Mark Schiele joins Times Herald as sports editor

NORRISTOWN — During his first round as the sports editor for The Times Herald back in the ’90s, Mark Schiele shared a private sanctum-like space with the sports writers.

Now that he’s returned to his Times Herald roots as the new sports editor, Schiele has come home to a “sports den” that’s been converted to a media café, and he has been relegated to a desk in the wide-open expanse of the newsroom.

But the East Norriton resident and family man doesn’t mind at all.

“I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in that office anyway,” Schiele said Wednesday. “I was mostly out at games or in the newsroom helping out there as well. It’s good to see that room being put to good use now,” he added, laughing.

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The 49-year-old Schiele, a Norristown native and Temple University graduate, started his newspaper career at The Times Herald in 1985 as a stringer, rising through the ranks as the Philadelphia Eagles beat writer, while covering the Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, NASCAR, pro boxing and various high school and college sports as a reporter and columnist.

His five-year run as sports editor ended in 1998, when he accepted a gig as sports editor of the Florence Morning News in South Carolina. Other career stops included sports editor of The Trentonian from 1999 to 2001 and working on the wire/copy desk for Calkins Media publications.

“My focus has always been about local sports. It was bred into me early in my career,”Schiele said. “As far as I’m concerned, The Times Herald’s sports section is still the late Red McCarthy’s sports section. He ran it to perfection. Since then, it’s been left for people like Tony Leodora, Joe Owens, myself and others to take care of it and keep the Red McCarthy vision of what a local newspaper sports section should be, alive. I’m excited to get a chance to come back home and do it for a second time.”

Editor Stan Huskey called Schiele’s enthusiasm “contagious.”

“We’re very excited to have Mark back at The Times Herald,” Huskey said. “The staff has already witnessed his guiding hand with a bold six-column photo across the front of the sports section earlier this week. He’s open to new ideas and has already shared a lot in the short time he’s been here.”

Husband to Rebecca and father to 11-year-old Spencer and 9-year-old Tyler, Schiele devotes much of his spare time to the East Norriton Little League and Facenda Whitaker Lanes.

He said he’s eager to get back to engaging with the local sports community and is expecting to see more coverage of the area’s Little League baseball district tournaments.

“I am encouraging readers and league officials to e-mail us results and photographs of their games and events for use in the newspaper and on our website,” he said.

Much has changed in the decade and a half since Schiele last worked at The Times Herald, Schiele noted.

“The world of newspapers has changed, especially in the digital-first and Internet age. But I’ve changed, too. I’ve learned a lot of things from a lot of good people. The first time I got this job it was a dream come true. My grandfather had tears in his eyes when I told him. To him, The Times Herald was everything.

“But this is a dream come true once again,” Schiele added. “I love the town. I love the newspaper. It’s where it all began for me. And while my grandfather might not be around this time to read my columns, I have two young boys I’m hoping to turn into regular readers.”